Exhaustion
by Hikari Shiroi Midori
Summary: "Two more weeks. Just focus for two more weeks." Misaki keeps telling himself that but as you all surely know chanting seldomly helps overcome problems or physical exhaustion. And let me tell you, Misaki s no exception.Fluff. Sweet. Hope you like it


Disclaimer: Junjou Romantica (Story, Characters and so on) belongs to Nakamura-sensei… but the new ones are mine! D

**Exhaustion**

„Usagi-san! Breakfast is ready!" Misaki called. The author as usual, sat on the couch doing some research for his next assignment. He put the book he´d just been reading away and walked over to the table where Misaki already set the plates down. They ate in silence and afterwards Misaki did the washing up. Normally he would take his time, but today it seemed like he would be seriously late so he quickened his pace and put the plates away.

He hurried into the hall and was about to put his shoes on, when a certain someone came up behind him and wrapped his arms around the teen´s waist. "Chot-, Usagi-san! Please let go! I´m late for school as it is." _As if he´d actually listen_, Misaki thought while foreseeing the things to happen next.

"But you didn´t give me a good-bye kiss yet." Akihiko replied.

"Jaa, itekimasu!" Misaki said and tried to make a dash for the door. But Akihiko was not to be deterred and held the teen firmly placing a kiss on his neck. "O-Oi! Don´t start that, it´s too early and I have to go. NOW!" Misaki struggled even harder, though it wasn´t helping much anyway. Akihiko merely turned Misaki around in his grip and locked their lips. The kiss lasted for quite a long time until Misaki was finally able to free himself.

"Iterashai." Akihiko said with a triumphant smirk. Misaki only blushed madly and went out, cursing under his breath. Arriving at university he made his way straight to his classroom and prepared his stuff for lesson. He yawned. _Crap, I´m feeling so tired._ He hadn´t been sleeping much recently. There were so many exams coming up and it was just about time the finals came around, too. He had to take an extra shift over for one of his colleagues at work, because he had to take care of his sick mother. Misaki didn´t mind helping at all, but since his landlord had to finish another BL novel pretty soon Akihiko wasn´t letting him off the hook easily either.

The boy sighed. _Two weeks. Two more weeks and all this stress will be over._ But he still couldn´t help but feel exhausted every now and then. Lesson started and he as usual took his notes listening carefully to his teacher. He was glad Sumi wasn´t around. The two of them didn´t have the exact same subjects so he didn´t see his senpai all the time. It was better this way. The man would only question him, why his notes looked as if a grade-schooler had written them.

When lessons were finally over, Misaki packed his things and left university. Akihiko had told him that he wouldn´t be able to pick him up today, for he had a meeting. Misaki didn´t mind. This way, Misaki had enough time to fix a story about how school was. He hadn´t really been able to pay attention. But as it turned out he found it quite nice Akihiko had no time today. It was a nice warm day, a gentle breeze…

When he got to the penthouse he checked if they had gotten any letters only to find the mail-box empty. He proceeded into their apartment and put his belongings onto the couch in the living room. _I should get a start on my homework._ He knew he really had to but on the other hand he thought about how great it would be to sit around and maybe watch some mindless television. That´s when he remembered something. "Oh no!" He looked at his cell phone. "I have to hurry!" he said storming off into the hall getting ready to leave. He had just remembered his shift starting earlier today because of his colleague.

"Sorry everyone!" he said panting as he finally – after a few meters of running – entered the family restaurant.

"You´re late!" one of his colleagues called out to him, carrying a full tray with drinks to a table. She didn´t seem as if caring if he got a move on anytime soon. It was hell in here. Every table was taken, waiters rushing around taking orders and disappearing into the kitchen. He immediately went to the changing room, got into his working clothes and did what he was supposed to. It didn´t take long and he ended up having to focus hard to do his job just as the others did. There wasn´t a chance for him to get a clear thought with the guests chatting and laughing and the waiters yelling orders.

And then it happened. One moment, _one_ he didn´t pay attention. He crashed with a waitress coming out of the kitchen door, sending the trays she had been holding to the floor. Along with the food and drinks on it. Luckily most of it got only onto the floor but some of the soup from the tray splashed onto Misaki´s arm as he raised it in a protective manor. "Ouch! Oh, I´m sorry, Kahara-san. You alright?" he asked quickly.

"No, I´m fine. But watch where you are going next time." She told him in a stern voice. He couldn´t really be angry. She was normally a really easy-going person but with this hell going on in here it was tearing on everyone´s nerves. But then she looked at his forearm. "Say, are you alright?"

Misaki eyed his arm but then waved it in a soothing matter. "It´s fine. It only grazed me. When it gets quieter I´ll just put a cold cloth on it." With that he walked into the kitchen before Kahara could say anything else. He hadn´t lied to her. The soup really had only grazed his arm. _What´s with me? It´s not like me to loose focus while work._

The rest of the afternoon – and Misaki was more then grateful about it – went on without anything else happening and more and more customers leaving. "Man, it´s already past seven." He sighed.

"Misaki." his boss called out from over the counter. "You need to be somewhere soon?"

"No." Misaki replied.

"Would you mind helping me put things away then?"

"Of course I don´t mind. But why this early?" He figured he could do homework whether later on or just save it up for tomorrow if there was no other way.

"I have some matters to take care of and since my dear big brother isn´t willing to watch over the restaurant while I´m gone it leaves me with no other choice." The man sighed heavily and let his shoulders fall.

"You could just leave it to us, right, Kahara-san?" he asked the other employee.

"Yeah, it´s no big deal. We´ll take care of things, don´t worry. It´s only two more hours anyway" She answered smiling.

So their boss left and the remaining stuff members stayed. Fortunately not many guests came so most of the waiters just sat at a table nearby waiting for their shift to be over. Misaki was glad when they agreed on closing the restaurant a little ahead of schedule, since no more guests showed up. He changed back into his clothes and was about to go when Kahara told him to wait. "You sure you´re alright, Takahashi-kun?" she asked in a small voice.

"Yeah, it wasn´t anything serious, so don´t worry."

"That´s not what I meant." She said more firmly. "I mean are _you_ alright. You don´t look so healthy to me."

That surprised Misaki. "Huh? Actually, I´m a bit tired but that´s that."

"You sure?"

"Yeah…?" now she was making him curious. _What brought this up? _Did he really look that absentminded?

She sighed. "If you say so. But make sure to rest properly this weekend. Especially, when your taking Sosuke´s shift, too!" she said pointing out a finger. Misaki just smiled in way of a reply a sweat drop on his forehead._ She_ _certainly has a few changes in her personality… every now and then._

After reassuring her again that everything was fine he left at last. On the way home he remembered his cell phone being switched off. As he checked it he had five missed calls from Akihiko. _Ugh, I totally forgot about him. He´ll definitely give me hell when I come back._

Matching words to deed Misaki arrived back home minutes later. Misaki couldn´t have been more surprised when he noticed that Akihiko wasn´t even home yet. _So why did he call me if he was out?_ Misaki shrugged and proceeded into the kitchen starting cooking. Though he was bone tired he was still hungry, which a growl his stomach gave reminded him of. "Two weeks. Just focus for two more weeks and everything will be over." Misaki told himself. Not worth mentioning it didn´t help.

Focus was a good cue. When he was in the middle of chopping vegetables he had to stop for things in front of him started to shift a little. _What´s…?_ Misaki laid the knife away onto a towel and put a hand in front of his eyes. He felt as if he had a knot stuck in his throat. He took away the hand from his eyes to his stomach. As if gods wanted to punish him – for whatever he might have done wrong – he Misaki heard the front door slamming shut.

Afraid the author would notice this and make a scene, the boy forced himself to resume cooking at once, swallowing the knot and ignoring the shifting images. "There you are, Misaki." came Akihiko´s voice from the kitchen´s entrance.

"Where should I be else?"

"Why didn´t you answer your phone?" the author asked ignoring his question.

"I was at work. I´m sure I told you I would take over a friend´s shift today."

"When I got there the place was already closed."

"Because we closed a little earlier today. The boss had to something to do, so we offered to take over. But since there weren´t that many people coming over, we shut down ahead of time." Misaki replied smoothly.

"Why didn´t you tell me?"

"You said you were having a meeting all day. Did you expect me to tell you to blow it off because I´m home early?"

With a sigh Akihiko crept up behind Misaki, hugging him close. "Hm, well, that didn´t come to my mind at first." He grinned broadly as he felt the Misaki stiffen a bit from realisation. "Though if you were to say it, I would have done it." he said kissing the boy´s neck. Misaki blushed and gave a shudder. Much to the author´s liking. With a smirk he kissed him again until Misaki finally started to fight back.

"S-Stop it, baka Usagi!" he yelled putting the knife back and flailing with his arms. He better should have left it at yelling. For his actions gave Akihiko the chance of taking in the burn on his right forearm.

"Oi, what´s this?" Akihiko asked obviously concerned and taking hold of the boy´s still moving arm.

Misaki stopped his movements. "Oh, that. I just got myself a little burned, but it´s fine." The teen tried to pull away but the author wouldn´t have it.

"Doesn´t look like nothing to me." And with that Akihiko let go of him, exiting the kitchen. "You wait there and don´t move, I´ll get the first-aid-kit." With that resolve in place he was gone.

"Weird isn´t quite the word to describe this moment-!" Just then his sight shifted more and more as he had finally gotten a grip of it. He stumbled against the counter knocking some of the vegetables off the cutting board, sending them rolling down to the floor. Not having the strength to hold up himself he slid on his knees resting his head on one hand.

Once again he forced himself into ignoring it. He would surely feel better after he slept that night. He opened his eyes and started to gather the now dirty food from the floor. The moment Misaki put a hand onto the counter to pull himself up Akihiko came. He held the little white box with a red cross in his hands as he saw his lover kneeling on the floor. "Misaki, are you alright?" he asked putting the box down.

"Yeah, I just dropped the food and was-" Misaki was about to go on when he felt a bit weak in his legs which wouldn´t have been a problem if he hadn´t laid his hand on the towel trying to pull himself up.

"Misaki!" The cloth slipped away beneath giving him nothing to hold on and almost falling to the floor if it weren´t for Akihiko catching him in time. He held Misaki waiting for the boy to response.

"Ah, I´m sorry, Usagi-sa…" Misaki trailed off as he heard something dripping to the ground. Blood. "What…?" Then he remembered him laying the knife on the towel which he had put his hand on. And indeed. There was the knife, tip of the blade centimetres in the floor. A bloodied blade. Okay, he _did_ know his knifes were kind of really sharp, but what he was seeing was enough to freak him out. Then Misaki caught a glimpse of his lover´s arm and saw a long, straight cut on it. Misaki sucked in breath harshly. He was speechless at first but then found his composure again. "Oh my god! Are you alright, Usagi-san?"

The author not really seeming to have noticed a thing just looked at him funny then followed the youth´s gaze. "Ah." he simply said. "Don´t worry. It only grazed me."

"Are you stupid? Can´t you see that it´s not stopping to bleed?" Misaki said unbelievingly. "Now _you_ wait here. I´ll get something." Misaki said getting up.

Akihiko complied wordlessly looking at the scratch on his arm. But when he didn´t hear the teen returning he turned around and got to his feet only to see Misaki standing in the kitchen frozen. Misaki didn´t make a move whatsoever, didn´t say a word. He just stood there. "Misaki?" Akihiko asked in a light voice worried. Akihiko then reached out to him putting a hand on his lover´s shoulder. A split second before he was able to touch him, Misaki slumped to the floor not moving anymore. "Misaki!"

Akihiko dropped to his knees cradling a limp Misaki to himself. "Misaki! Oi, Misaki!"

"Silly." Akihiko said in a soft voice as he put a fresh wet cloth on the teen´s head. After he´d passed out Akihiko had carried him straight up to the bedroom. "You shouldn´t always try to act though only to not worry me. Just tell me if you don´t feel well."

"Who´s silly here?" Misaki asked in a weak voice. Putting all his effort into it Misaki sat up to face his lover. Akihiko was about to protest as Misaki asked suddenly: "What about your arm? Is it-" Akihiko cut him off by showing. It had stopped bleeding, in fact he had even bandaged it.

At seeing Misaki´s surprise Akihiko smiled gently and said: "Television _does_ teach useful things."

The boy was relived but either way it was still his fault. "I´m sorry, Usagi-san. If I just hadn´t put that knife there, you-"

"Don´t blame yourself. It´s not as if it chopped my arm off, right?"

As he imagined what his lover had mentioned Misaki was terrified. "But it could have been worse." The boy sighed. "I´m sorry." he said feeling guilty and averting the man´s eyes.

"Misaki." Akihiko reached out to him wanting to touch the teen´s cheek when the boy suddenly stirred up.

"Oh no! I still got homework to do!" Misaki threw the sheets off him and got to his feet.

"Homework? Misaki, you just collapsed from exhaustion and you´re thinking of nothing but going back to work?"

"That´s not my professors concern. Work has to be done whether I´m sick or healthy doesn´t matter when I have to do it." Misaki replied sternly. "And besides, I´m just fi-" The boy didn´t get to finish the sentence because he started to feel terribly dizzy. Akihiko noticed it right away getting to his feet and putting his arms around the now shivering body.

"It might not be your professors´ concern but it´s mine still." Akihiko said firmly holding Misaki tighter as his legs gave away. Then he felt Misaki´s powerless hand crawl up his chest and gripping the elder´s shirt forcefully. Akihiko looked at Misaki´s flushed face with worry. The author quickly helped the boy into bed and tugged him in taking hold of the hand that was still grabbing his shirt and kissed it gently.

"Misaki, don´t worry about anything. Please rest, you need it." Akihiko put the cloth back on the teen´s forehead with his free hand. The boy complied without a word and drifted off to sleep almost immediately.

"U-Usagi-san…" suddenly came a restrained voice.

"Yeah?"

"I don´t want to keep you from work. When I´m asleep you can…" Misaki was silenced by the author squeezing his hand.

"I told you not to worry. And right now, you´re more important." After that Misaki mumbled something Akihiko had almost been unable to catch which made him smile down at the now sleeping boy lovingly.

"_Thank you…"_

Akihiko chuckled. "Anytime." he said guiding the boy´s knuckles to his lips.

**Author´s Note:** Here! *hides under the covers out of embarrassment* There´s the Oneshot I promised you long ago xD well, I´m sorry that I didn´t write anything for a loooooooooooong looooooooooooong time but I have two good reasons for it: 1) the enemy of every teen: school. Finals were pretty though this year oO I actually had to study -_- and 2) that GOD FU**ING hacker! He totally wasted my PC which was why I had to delete EVERYTHING! Even chapter 4 and 5 of Childhood Friend :´( *sniff* so take it out on him for the waiting…. Gosh! I have to rewrite all of it….

Okay, to come back to the matters at hand, I really hope you enjoyed it. I hope Misaki and Akihiko weren´t so out of character. Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed it, so don´t forget the reviews. *craving for response* xD Want more? Any requests? Tell me~

Hope you enjoyed it~Hope you'll continue reading:

Hikari Shiroi Midori


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